By Humberto Cruz

She didn't say the word, but trust seems to be one of the big issues in this reader's e-mail:

Q: My husband and I are in our early 30s.

We've been saving since our early 20s, mostly in our companies' 401(k) plans. Over the past four years, we've been working with a financial planner and contributing to a Roth IRA.

How does the average person begin to research and understand the investment opportunities a financial planner presents to clients?

I wouldn't know where to begin, so we usually invest where our planner recommends. I feel I should have more understanding about why we are investing in the funds we do.

I guess what I'm asking is, how can the average person go about double-checking that their planner's recommendations are where the client really wants to be?

A: Given your commitment to savings and interest in learning about investments, I recommend you consider joining the not-for-profit American Association of Individual Investors (www.aaii.com).

At $29 a year, basic membership is a bargain. Even if you don't join, the AAII's free Web site offers a wealth of free educational materials.

As to your planner, it's important to know which type you have.

You didn't say whether yours is a certified financial planner (one who's earned this CFP designation from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards), a registered investment adviser or RIA (who must register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and/or state regulators), or some other type.

If you don't know, find out now. Different types of planners are held to different standards.

I strongly recommend you use a planner (such as a CFP or RIA) who adheres to a "fiduciary standard." That means the planner's recommendations, by law, must place the client's interest first.

Brokers, also known as "registered representatives," may call themselves financial planners but they are basically employees of a stock exchange member firm who act as account executives for clients.

Brokers, who fall under the jurisdiction of the self-regulatory Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, are held to a less stringent "suitability" standard.

That means their recommendations must be "suitable" to their clients - for example, be in line with their investment goals and risk tolerance. But the clients' interests do not come first.

Therefore, a broker is legally free to recommend an investment that pays his firm - and him - a higher commission over a similar lower-cost fund as long as the investment is suitable to the client. (In fact, the broker's contract with his firm may require him to recommend the higher-cost fund.) A planner who takes a fiduciary oath could not do that.

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), an organization of advisers who are not paid on commission and adhere to the fiduciary standard, recommends that investors ask advisers to sign a "fiduciary oath."

"Advisers who are going to act in your best interests will be forthright and honest about how they operate and will truly act in a fiduciary capacity at all times," said Diahann Lassus, NAPFA chairwoman.

For an excellent list of questions all investors should ask, see the group's "Financial Advisor Diagnostic" at www.napfa.org.

If you are OK with your planner not being a fiduciary - I wouldn't be - at least ask him to explain precisely the reasons for his recommendations, including what's in them for him.

Part of a good planner's job is to educate his clients on basic investment principles, such as asset allocation, diversification and selection of specific securities or funds.

Take the Guesswork Out of Asset Allocation

Talk to any financial adviser and the mantra these days is diversify, diversify, diversify. But to average investors, that's not so simple. What exactly does that mean and how do they go about doing it?

What's Really Driving Your Portfolio Performance?

According to Roger Ibbotson, chairman and founder of Ibbotson Associates and a professor in the practice of finance at the Yale School of Management, what really drives performance over the long term is asset allocation - the assignment of money to different categories of assets, such as large- and small-cap funds, international funds, bonds and cash.

When Going Gets Tough, Look To Dividend-Paying Stocks

Dividend-paying stocks may provide investors with solid results and, quite possibly, a smoother ride along the way. An expanding dividend supply is presenting itself when investors need it most: a volatile market and a volatile world.

Send questions or comments to Humberto Cruz at AskHumberto@aol.com or c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Buffalo, NY. 14207. Personal replies are not possible.

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